Four royal counties of the open plain, each round an earthwork castle: Pest on the left bank of the Danube opposite Óbuda (the trading settlement of Pest itself is hut's record), Solt on the Danube south of it with the archbishop of Kalocsa's lands at its southern end, Csongrád at the meeting of the Tisza and the Körös, and Békés on the Körös marshes.
They are open grassland, marsh and river-island country of cattle, fish and reeds, with the salt road from Szeged crossing them to the Danube (the Káliz road). The Bár-Kalán kindred's monastery at Szer and their estates lie in Csongrád; the Borsa kindred's ancestral land on the Berettyó lies on the Békés border.
Who he is
- Name
- Not named in the sources reached for 1199-1200
- Title
- Ispáns (comites) of Pest, Solt, Csongrád and Békés
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No ispán of these counties is named for 1199-1200 in the English Wikipedia articles on Emeric's officers (after Zsoldos); the Hungarian county lists could not be loaded in this run.
Overlord
King Emeric.
What it holds
- Pest county: the castle and county of Pest east of the Danube (Pest itself: hut).
- Solt county: Solt castle on the Danube; Kalocsa and its lands are the archbishop's (Church map).
- Csongrád county: Csongrád castle at the Körös mouth; Szeged, the Tisza salt port, lies in it.
- Békés county: Békés castle on the Körös.
How it was acquired
Royal counties since the eleventh or twelfth century.
How things stand that morning
Royal counties under ispáns who serve Emeric as far as any evidence shows; no ispán is named for the day.
Wealth
Each ispán takes his share of the county's royal revenues (tolls, court fines, the castle folk's dues); the rest goes to the king.
Military
Earthwork castles at Pest, Solt, Csongrád and Békés; castle warriors; no numbers.
Places of note
- Csongrád castle: County seat (earthwork) at the Körös mouth.
- Békés castle: County seat on the Körös.
- Solt: County seat on the Danube.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The counties and their castles are certain; their ispáns in 1199-1200 are not named in the sources reached.
On the map: Later medieval bounds; the Kiskunság and Jászság were settled by Cumans and Jász only in the 1240s and are not yet separate.
Primary sources for Hungary
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
4 more in the sources library for Poland, Hungary and the Adriatic.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.